2000
#125,639
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 126
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Harbourt
A locational surname referring to someone from a harbor town or settlement.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 133 Americans carry the last name Harbourt. That puts it at #145,028 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,577,100 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Harbourt surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
133
1 in 2,577,100
Census rank
#145,028
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
116
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 116 bearers of the surname Harbourt in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145028th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Harbourt, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Harbourt
The surname Harbourt is of English origin, first appearing in the county of Yorkshire in the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English words "hara" meaning hare and "burh" meaning a fortified town or borough, suggesting that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near a fortified town where hares were abundant.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Harbourt name can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Yorkshire from 1273, where a Richard de Hareburt is listed as a landowner. This suggests that the family may have held some status and property in the region during the medieval period.
In the 14th century, the name appears in various spellings such as Hareburt, Hayrburth, and Hareborth in various Yorkshire parish records and tax rolls. This variation in spelling was common in medieval times before standardized spelling became more widespread.
During the 16th century, the Harbourt name began to spread beyond Yorkshire, with records showing individuals with this surname in other parts of England, such as London and Lincolnshire. One notable figure from this period was William Harbourt (1530-1602), a merchant and alderman in the city of London.
In the 17th century, the Harbourt surname gained further prominence with the rise of Sir Henry Harbourt (1619-1689), a prominent English politician and landowner who served as a Member of Parliament and held significant estates in Yorkshire and Leicestershire.
Other notable individuals with the Harbourt surname include John Harbourt (1720-1785), a successful businessman and landowner in Nottinghamshire, and Mary Harbourt (1765-1842), a renowned author and poet who published several collections of verse during the Romantic era.
Throughout its history, the Harbourt name has maintained a strong presence in various regions of England, particularly in Yorkshire, where it originated, and has been associated with individuals from various walks of life, including landowners, merchants, politicians, and literary figures.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Harbourt
Among Census respondents with the surname Harbourt, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Harbourt bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Harbourt surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.8% · 110
- Two or more races5.2% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Harbourt
Harbourt appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#126,765
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 135
+9 bearers (+7.1%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Down 1,126 places
2020
#145,028
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
-19 bearers (-14.1%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 18,263 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #125,639 | 126 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #126,765 | 135 | 0.05 | +9 bearers (+7.1%) | Down 1,126 places |
| 2020 | #145,028 | 116 | 0.04 | -19 bearers (-14.1%) | Down 18,263 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Harbourt surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #126,765 | #145,028 | -14.4% |
| Count | 135 | 116 | -14.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.05 | 0.04 | -22.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Harbourt bearers went from 135 to 116 (-14.1% change). The surname moved down 18,263 positions in the national ranking, going from #126,765 to #145,028.
FAQ
Harbourt surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Harbourt?
Name Census estimates that about 133 living Americans carry the surname Harbourt. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,577,100 residents.
How common is Harbourt?
Harbourt ranks #145,028 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 116 people with the surname Harbourt. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (133), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Harbourt.
Has Harbourt become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Harbourt went from 135 recorded bearers to 116. That is a decrease of 19 (-14.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #126,765 to #145,028.
What does the Census say about the background of Harbourt?
Among Census respondents with the surname Harbourt, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Harbourt in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.8% (110 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Harbourt appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.8%), Two or More Races (5.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Harbourt (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Harbourt mean?
A locational surname referring to someone from a harbor town or settlement. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Harbourt (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Harbourt?
See how many people are called Harbourt on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.